Wanted: Advice from Men on What Toughened You as a Boy
It is no secret that boys today in the public school system are the victims of the feminist movement and its outlook.
This is not a new process. It began over 150 years ago. When fathers and sons no longer worked together side-by-side in the fields, America began to change.
When the newly created public school system began hiring unmarried young women in the 1860's to teach in small town schools and rural schools, the connection between fathers and sons was severed in a fundamental way. These women worked cheap. Married men could not compete. Women became the teachers of America's boys.
Today, the feminization of boys is a matter of educational policy. Schools are self-consciously trying to make girls out of boys. It is a matter of ideology today, not simply school economics.
I am interested in your opinions on how to combat this process. When you were a boy, was there activity or responsibility that toughened you mentally, so that you were protected from feminization?
I will tell you what toughened me. It was an older woman. She owned the local record store. She hired me when I was 14 years old. She was tough. She demanded performance. But she was patient. She knew that I was just getting started. I learned to meet her standards. I learned adult-level responsibility from her. I had to show up on time. I worked 20 hours a week. I learned a lot about budgeting my time. I will not say that I liked her, but I respected her. I didn't dislike her. She was simply my boss. I walked the line (to paraphrase the title of a huge hit in the year I started working).
What about you? Was there anybody like this in your life? Was there any responsibility handed to you as a boy or as a teenager that toughened you?
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If you are a site member, I have created a discussion forum: Toughening Up Boys Today.